SF dog-walker regulations get initial OK

Six? Seven? Eight? Infinity? Just what should the limit be on how many dogs a professional dog walker can walk at any one time in a city park? The answer — drum roll, please — is eight. That’s the number of the Board of Supervisors settled on today after much debate.

The limit is just one component of legislation to regulate dog walkers in San Francisco. The proposal, which was given preliminary approval, would require commercial dog walkers who walk four or more dogs on property owned by the city, the port or the Public Utilities Commission to obtain a permit.

Applicants must complete training in such areas as dog park etiquette (think pick up the poop, stay out of playgrounds), canine first aid and pack management or have gone through an apprenticeship program. Permit holders must carry a leash for each dog, follow all applicable leash laws, transport dogs in a safe manner, obtain liability insurance and have plenty of water nearby for the pooches under their charge.

The legislation has the backing of dog advocacy groups in the city and the local professional dog walkers association.

Hiring someone to walk Rover (or Sierra or Rocky) is crucial for many dog owners in San Francisco, said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who sponsored the legislation.

“It’s also important to do whatever we can to make sure that professional dog walkers are as uniformly as high quality as possible,” he said. “A significant majority of significant dog walkers do a great job; there may be some who maybe aren’t so experienced and can cause problems. In addition, we want to protect consumers — those who purchase dog-walking services — by making sure that they can be confident their dog walkers are qualified, and we want to protect our parks and other public properties from overuse and make sure we’re balancing the needs of all users.”

An 11th-hour amendment was added by Supervisor Carmen Chu that’s intended to get more dog owners to follow the law and license their dogs. Dog walkers will be required to ask all their clients for the license numbers and to keep a record of them.